Coub for Android is the mobile version of this new social network that’s based entirely around looping 10 second video clips. These looping clips are called “coubs”. You could perhaps think of them as GIFs with sound. But they can take a little bit longer to buffer. The audio may also last longer than the 10 second looping clip.

You start by following some channels, so you’ve got something to look at. A lot of effort has clearly been put into making some excellent content to browse through. These include things like miniature timelapses and loops of black and white cartoons. All very artistic and pleasing to look at. Then there are short clips from movies, which are made funny by the soundtrack or the title given. And then, of course, you are bound to see some loops of boobies or people shaking their asses.

The clips play very responsively as soon as you focus on them. If you scroll up and then back again, they’ll continue uninterrupted from whatever point you left off. It’s all very fluid, and for the time being there’s no advertising on here. So it’s a great site if you just want to see and share some funny clips.

It’s a bit disappointing that you can only create videos - in the app - by taking a video (though you can replace the soundtrack). The full web version lets you use links from youtube, and then select a 10 second clip from that video, and even replace the soundtrack with another youtube video. It would be great to see these cool features in the app as well. Finally, the like symbol is a rocker horns sign, and the share is a replay symbol called “recoub”. It’s good to see originality here!

Final ratings

Content is mostly unoriginal, the community feels empty because there is no way to communicate on the platform

Have you ever wanted to be a part of a social club that was nothing but people sharing GIFs… with sound!? That’s exactly what Coub for Android is. It’s an entire social playground full of people who make and shoot coubs. What are coubs? They’re these short videos, basically GIFs, that have sound.

When you first boot up the app, you’ll have to create an account, which they call channels. Your channel also acts as a profile where you can create your own coubs by uploading them or creating them with just your camera.

The app’s main strength is in its social aspects. You’re forced to follow a few channels before you make the account, and there are plenty of cool channels to choose from. A few of the ones I decided to follow kind of followed different themes. For instance, one was all about pixel and bitmap coups, which I found to be super entertaining.

Kind of like any other social media sites, you can browse through popular channels and share their content.

There are a few things I didn’t really like about the app, though. First off, every coub is placed on an individual card and they all autoplay when you swipe to a new card. That’s fine if you have your volume down, but it also leaves you open to those times when you’re studying in a quiet library, and totally forget that your volume is set to full blast. The overall atmosphere of the community feels really empty as well due to the inability to leave comments or communicate on any real level.

Coub is a really cool idea, and I did have some fun looking through all of the content it had to offer. Unfortunately, the majority of that content can be found elsewhere in a multitude of other forms. So, while I like the idea, I just don’t know if it will stick.